Shafaq News / In an exclusive interview commemorating the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, former Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi revealed insights into the political landscape of the time, including the Arab world's consensus on the necessity of ousting former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Speaking with Russia Today's documentary program "Qasara Al-Qawl," bin Alawi delved into the complexities surrounding the 2003 Iraq War and the United Nations' Oil-for-Food Program.
According to bin Alawi, the former Iraqi regime was well aware of its imminent fall in the face of the American-led invasion in 2003. He elaborated that the Oil-for-Food Program, which allowed Iraq to sell oil in exchange for food and medicine, was an attempt to save Iraqis from a famine engineered by the United States and its allies.
Bin Alawi explained, "All initiatives to prevent the American war on Iraq were no longer effective." He noted that there was a near-unanimous Arab consensus on the need to remove Saddam Hussein after his invasion of Kuwait. The US-led war on Iraq was, in fact, a protracted confrontation between successive US presidents and Hussein, culminating in his eventual capture.
The former Omani diplomat, who spearheaded Oman's diplomacy for nearly four decades and established "quiet diplomacy" alongside the late Sultan Qaboos, shed light on Oman's role in the international arena.
He stated that the Sultanate of Oman had worked tirelessly within the United Nations Security Council and with the United States to secure the resolution authorizing the Oil-for-Food Program. This enabled Iraqis, under the effective management of then Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh, to survive the famine that Washington and its allies sought to impose as punishment for the regime's reckless policies.
The interview with bin Alawi provides valuable historical context and offers a unique perspective on the geopolitics of the Middle East during a tumultuous period that continues to shape the region today.